CursedDreams
by TehHappyEmo
Summary: undecided on title, summery inside, but basically: Uni and a bit of fantasy thrown in. rated M for future smut. SasuNaru.
1. Prologue thing!

_A/N: just a quick one, this is a majorly short chap, but it is the prologue thingy, most likely done it all wrong, but it's to get you (hopefuly) interested in it. =)_  
_ooh and bare with me on updates - more explained at end._

Prologue

_Have you ever had that dream where you're falling, and when you're about to hit the ground, you find yourself jolted awake because you've actually fallen out of your bed or off whatever you've been sleeping on?_

_I was currently having one of those dreams, hoping whatever I landed on when I woke up, wasn't going to leave a nasty bruise._

_I believe I'd passed out on a picnic table at my best bud Kiba's house during the first of his summer holiday get togethers with all our friends, and I'd been having the most wonderful dream..._

_I was walking along a load of clouds, and then the next thing I know, I'm on this cliff top, and it's brilliant sunshine, the scene is breath taking, and then the next thing I know, I've somehow managed to fall off and got a one way ticket to some not-so-nice looking rocks at the bottom of the cliff. _

_It was weird, like parts of the dream were missing, just kept flashing to the next bit with no connection in between… must be due to how much I'd drunk. I'm probably not making much sense either._

_Oh look, the rocks are a lot closer now, best brace for impact. _

- End Dream -

"Aaah!" As expected, the Blond, that was once perched upon the picnic table, had rolled over the edge and also off the bench connected, to land in a heap on the floor.

"Haha! Dude! you alright?" came Kiba's response after waiting for the Blond to crash, with no little prodding of any kind, or secret filming on his phone at all, honest.

"Ughh, yeah, I think so… what time is it?" came the sluggish reply, while said Blond cradled his head in his hands to try sooth the pounding head ache.

"Ummm, about half 11 in the morning, why?"

"Er, nothing, I think, I feel like I've forgotten something important… oh never mind, just get me something for my head, please Kiba!" the Blond begged with puppy dog eyes, even making whimpering noises when he just stood there with a smirk on his face at his friends obvious pain.

"Oh, fine! This is what you get for drinking so much, Naruto, I told you before you can't handle your drink when you mix stuff" Kiba huffed as the Blond, Naruto, trailed behind his friend to the kitchen for water while Kiba disappeared to get some aspirin.

As soon as the Blond sat down, Akamaru padded over and laid his head in Narutos lap, who responded by automatically playing with his fluffy ears while trying to remember the other night and how he ended up on the picnic table of all places.

"Ah well, I've got plenty of time to think about it while on my trip, ay Akamaru?"

Said dog replied with a small hurrmm noise, too busy enjoying his ears being played with to listen.

"AH! That's what I forgot! My first flight out is at 2pm and it takes nearly 3 hours to get to the airport…"  
"What, even with your crazy-ass driving?" Kiba snickered as he threw Naruto some aspirin.

"Suppose it might knock off an hour, but it's rush hour, Kiba. Rush hour!" Naruto whined, too caught up in his trip messing up with it not even started yet, to get Kiba back for the 'crazy-ass driving' remark.

"Looks like you'll be calling in a favour from me then." Came the bored tone of Gaara who seemed to just materialize by the kitchen sink, making both boys jump and turn around very slowly.

"Eheheh" was the hesitant response from Naruto, who scratched the back of his head nervously, wondering if he'll regret this seemingly generous offer.

- End prologue -

**A/N: heeeeey! so i finaly got this up. had it down for a few months now, but i'm stuck on the next chapter, and thought if i put it up, it might help get something moving... i'm not sure. wanted to have a few chapters done first before i posted this. oh well!**

**spelling mistakes for Blond: **i know blonde has an E on the end, but to help distinguish between guys and girls, the guys miss the E off the end... and only Naruto when mentioned as 'Blond' will have a capital B at the begining... unless it's the start of a scentence. i'll re-do this in a much better way on my next chapter update, but as of now, it might be a while, or this might actually work and it could be up tomorrow night (wishful thinking though!)

**anyhoo, **next chapter will be Naruto on his way home from the trip, as i'm planning those details to be revealed through the story.

**as for the plot...** the main idea is they're at uni, Naruto's roommate just never seems to be around, including the past 2 years they've been there, he wouldn't know him if he passed him on the street sort of thing haha. there is also going to be fantasy stuff in this... i hope i do a good job, pointers for improvement will be welcomed and taken on board =]

**(oh, and let me know of grammer and spelling mistakes! bit dyslexic, so B's n D's could be mixed, but they're usually sorted by spell checker)**


	2. Chapter 1

**Cursed / Dreams**

**Chapter 1**

_~8 weeks later~_

_He walks on an endless sea of dull white clouds. His feet touch ground, and the clouds appear to evaporate as he walks further forward. He comes to a stop at a cliff top, overlooking a sparkling clear blue sea. ~_

The sun rises slowly through the partly opened curtains, typically in the direct eye line of one sleeping Blond. But this didn't seem to faze him, as he turned over and snuggled deeper into his blankets. No, this did not wake him up in the slightest.

_~ (__whispered) "Naruto..." ~_

The Blond bolted upright, knocking his blankets off himself with such force they fluttered to the floor as he sat there panting looking around frantically, trying to find the source of whatever it was that had said his name.

Realising it must have just been part of his dream, he willed himself to calm down as he shuffled to sit on the edge of the bed, putting his head in his hands.

_That dream… when did I have that dream before… _

In the midst of his hard thinking, his cell jolts to life with We Want Fun by Andrew W.K, alerting him of the person who was calling.

Kiba; who else would "wanna have fun and wanna get wasted"? Okay, that made his best friend sound like a raging alcoholic, but he was the one who'd swiped his phone to personalise his caller ID.

Pressing the 'answer' button on his cell phone, Naruto holds it as far away from him as his arms will allow.  
(I imagine him sat with a 'not amused cause I'm tired' expression, his arm stretched out with the phone facing towards a wall, little red squiggly lines coming from it as Kiba shouts haha)

"NARUTOOOOOOO! DUDE! YOU BACK YET?"

Said Blond had hardly been able to talk to his best friend, let alone his family, while he was on his trip, so giving his friend a minute to calm down, he responded, laughing a little.

"Yeah, man, I'm just in a travel lodge right now, got back at about one in the morning and I managed to make it half the way home before jet lag got too much for me, I'll be leaving within the hour though, so expect to see me soon, haha." Naruto checked the time and noticed it was only 10am, he'd got about 6 hours sleep and felt great, completely forgetting what had woken him up this morning.

"Are you listening Naruto?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, yeah! The gathering tomorrow, I know. You make it sound like I've been away for years, not a couple months." He shook his head as he smiled, knowing exactly what his friend would say next.

"Well it was Akamaru who wanted to come to it… he missed you. He told me so himself!"

Humouring him a little, Naruto knew it was Kiba who'd missed him, though no doubt his pup had missed the lavished attention the Blond always gave him.

"Of course… Akamaru. Eheh, you're not fooling anyone, dude, you missed me and you know that I know it, so I expect to see you both and everyone there, I've got presents for all!"

"Sa-weeeeet!" shouted Kiba, and Naruto could just imagine him fist pumping the air. He always did know what to buy people.

* * *

"Aah! Home sweet home!" Naruto sighed happily as he got out his car and stretched, popping a few joints in the process.

Looking towards his house, then his car, he debated on unpacking it now and ordering food, or ordering food then unpacking his car later on. Though the latter was putting it off, it would be a bit chilly compared to the hot summer nights he had been used to, and who said he had to unpack them right away? He could just leave them in the hallway. So, finding his car key again, he unlocked the trunk and pulled out his two rather heavy bags, resting them on the ground while he opened the passenger seat door and took out his carry-on luggage, which was still moderately heavy itself.

Once the car was locked, he placed his carry-on strap on his shoulder, and took a suitcase in each hand, they were heavier now than at the beginning of his trip, but it didn't faze the Blond.

Setting his bags down, he fished for his keys in his pocket, and just as he found them, the door opened and he was glomped by none other than Akamaru, with a howling Kiba clinging to the door to prevent himself from collapsing onto the floor completely.

"Oh dude! You should have seen your face! It was like, wuuuh" Kiba pulled a clueless face trying to impersonate Narutos shock, but just caused Naruto to burst out laughing, responding with "haha Kiba, that's what you normally look like!"

Kiba stopped laughing immediately, levelling Naruto with a 'death' glare, and promptly shut the door in the Blonds face, who proceeded to crack up even more. Honestly, Kiba's 'death' glare was like an angry puppy, too damn cute!

"Aww Kiba, you know I was joking man, open up, please!" Naruto did have keys, but Kiba was sat against the door, preventing Naruto from opening it.

When Kiba didn't budge, all Naruto had to do was look at Akamaru, who knew exactly what to do. With a nod of his fluffy head, the dog bounded down the stairs and laid down, making a pained whine loud enough for Kiba to hear.

That worked a treat, Kiba was out the front door so fast, the poor dog didn't even get chance to show off his 'play dead' act.

"Oh my god, Akamaru! Are you okay? Naruto what did you do!" Kiba accused, looking at the Blond as he just leisurely picked up his suitcases and put them in his house, walked towards his kitchen and shouted "C'mon Akamaru! Chow time!"

Said dog got up wagging his tail as he bounded in the house for food, leaving a shocked and betrayed owner of one very clever canine.

* * *

After a large pizza each, two chocolate cake slices each, and a beer (you guessed it) each, both boys collapsed on the front rooms couch, staring at the 47" wall-mounted TV, Akamaru curled up next to Kiba's armrest.

"You go turn it on. It's your TV" came Kiba's argument.

"So? You're the one who wanted it on. I need to go unpack…" Naruto made a move to get up, but his stomach protested in any form of movement "…or not, I shouldn't have had 2 chocolate cake slices to myself, why didn't I save one for later!" the Blond whined as he fell back against the couch.

"Seriously! You used to be able to eat more than that! Did you eat anything while on your elusive trip you won't tell me anything about?" Kiba said doing a mock concerned expression for his friends' once unbeatable stomach.

"You sure are a sly one, Kiba. But I'm not ready to tell you about it yet, okay? You'll only laugh at me for it right now."

This caused Kiba to become even more confused as to why Naruto left, and what he got up to.

"Okay dude, but you know you can tell me anything, and it is possible for me to be serious, you know that." Kiba tried to comfort the blond when he saw the tiniest bit of sadness cross his friends face when he spoke about not being ready to tell him about his trip.

"Yeah, I know, I've seen those rare times. But I need to get it sorted out in my head too, otherwise it'd just come out garbled"

Kiba just sat there with a concerned look on his face while staring at the black TV screen. After taking another swig of his beer, he rolled backwards, then forwards, trying to build momentum up to get himself off the couch to turn the TV on. After several more attempts, he finally got on his feet, and just as he was about to push the 'on' button, Naruto pulls out the remote from behind the plump cushions and switches it on.

Turning around painfully slow in front of the TV, the dog lover glared at the Blond.  
"You had the remote all this time!"

"Why… yes, it appears I did" came the smug reply.

"Why did you not just use it and save us the trouble of moving!"

"I was going to, but then you started the rolling thing, and it was just too damn funny to watch" Naruto said, trying to stifle the laugh building up again. And failed at the face Kiba pulled, whom marched over, snatched the remote out his hand, and whacked Naruto over the head with it.

"OW!" Naruto pouted as he rubbed his sore head, wincing as he felt the lump already forming.  
"Have you been working out or something, 'cause that didn't feel half as weak as it usually does."

"Oh, so you noticed? eheh." Slumping back down onto the couch, Kiba held his arm up and tensed to show off the lump of muscle that wasn't there before. "I thought I might as well get into shape. Sitting around playing video games is fun, but if you haven't got your best friend there to kick their butt, it's a bit boring."

"Haha! You mean _me_ kicking _your_ butt."

"Shurrup..."

They soon fell into comfortable silence as they turned their attention back to the TV, having decided on an action film that was already playing.

* * *

Yawning, stretching and trying not to fall over from standing up too fast and his vision going completely black, Naruto made his way to his bedroom.  
After Kiba had left not too long ago, the Blond had gone about unpacking a few things, like washing that needed doing, and had found himself trailing back to the couch to turn off the TV, only to collapse on it and fall asleep.

He'd been asleep for all of ten minutes before he could feel some one else in the room with him, but in his sleepy state, he just thought Kiba had left something and noticing him sleeping, and decided to keep quiet. For once.  
But the presence of someone else wouldn't leave, and what startled him awake was the feeling of someone breathing on his neck. Or possibly smelling him, he wasn't sure. He just knew whatever it was, wasn't there when he jumped up.

Noticing the TV was _still_ on, and making a quiet static noise, Naruto had dismissed his startled awakening to his over-active brain. Instead, opting to find his room, and comfy-as-hell bed, and sleep till noon tomorrow. Or preferably the day after.

No lights were on, so relying on the layout forever engrained in his mind, he easily found his way to the stairs, and then his bedroom. Still not bothering with the lights, the Blond stripped down to his boxers, collapsed onto his bed, and was out as soon as his head hit the pillows.

* * *

_~He walks on an endless sea of dull white clouds. His feet touch ground, and the clouds appear to evaporate as he walks further forward. He comes to a stop at a cliff top, overlooking a sparkling clear blue sea__._

_The view is breath taking, and he can't help but sit down to take it all in. Relaxing under the warm sun and listening to the soothing lull of the waves washing up against the rocks far below the Blonds __feet, which were hanging lazily over the edge._

_Suddenly, he gets an uncomfortable feeling, like he's being watched, and sits up to scan his surroundings. Something on the horizon catches his attention; Dark, thunderous clouds, creeping their way towards the Blonds little paradise.~_

A rumble of thunder rolls over Narutos house, shaking him awake and upright. A crackle of lighting kindly lighting up his room for a split second, before darkness once again consumes the room, a roar of thunder following in its wake.

Naruto clutches his covers around him. It's not like he was scared or anything, but it was like an earth quake had hit, and he was preparing for the next round. Sure enough, two torturous minutes later, a flash lights up his room and another boom of thunder is felt more than heard; it was definitely closer than the last one. They were heading right his way.

Griping his covers around him, he carefully steps out of bed, and shuffles over to the window to take a better look. The street lights are still on, so it must really be early; a quick glance at his clock tells him the power is out, though he's not surprised.

The next round of lighting and thunder draws Naruto's attention back to the street, in time to see the street lights flicker as they fight to remain on. But to no avail, they slowly flick on, then off, back on, and then off, each time getting longer until one by one they shut off. Naruto watches stunned as it starts from the top end of the street, curves around the sidewalk in front of his drive and continues back up the other side. His eyes are glued to the last lamppost as a lone figure stands directly under the flickering light, their back towards him. They turn, and direct one blazing red eye towards Naruto, who stumbles back slightly from the window, still not taking his eyes from those of this stranger. The street light above begins to flicker more violently, and Naruto squashes himself against the window as the next time the light flickers, the person with those red eyes has vanished, and a second later, glass rains down from the blown blub above.

(A/N: Imagine a U shaped street, with houses around it, Narutos directly at the bottom able to see up the street… believe it's a cul-de-sac, but they're more round like C= than U shaped… if that makes sense xD haha.)

* * *

Naruto can't remember the time he crawled back into bed, he'd been stood staring at that spot, but the storm had passed, and the sun was making its way up above the surrounding gardens, casting the sky in those morning colours or purple, pink, orange... and red. When he saw that colour, he quickly scrambled to shut the curtains and dived back into bed, as if that would help keep the memories from only a few hours before from popping up in his head.

The intro to We Want Fun woke Naruto from a dreamless sleep, and as he looked at the time, it was 9:35am, he jumped out of bed and as he ran around getting dressed, he answered the phone.

"I know, I know, give me two seconds and I'll let you in."

"Naruto, slow down, dude. I'm not there yet," Naruto stopped trying to get his cargo pants on one handed, letting them fall back down as he stood up straight.

"I'm on my way to pick people up. I'll have Sakura, Ino and Lee with me. Lee's car just would not start this morning, and from the sound of glee in Sakura's voice on the phone, I don't think they mind. I'll be there around 11 if traffic stays the same, if not, it'll definitely be before 12."

"That's alright, I need to get stuff sorted out here anyway, give the place a quick clean n stuff."

"Don't worry about that, Sakura and Ino already took care of everything yesterday morning. So we'll just go out as planned n let them work their magic." Naruto let out a sigh of relief, he didn't feel like pushing around the vacuum cleaner or dusting the place, although no one had been in it for it to get that dusty, it was a lengthy job.

"Thanks Kiba, I knew giving you a key would pay off some time. I'll see you all in a bit." Hanging up, Naruto just stared at his phone for a second, debating on what to do, despite Kiba saying he didn't need to do anything, he still felt obliged. So he pulled on some old sweat pants and went downstairs to the kitchen to give that a good scrub, no doubt the fridge and freezer would need a quick clean.

On his way down the stairs, he noticed that the house was indeed clean and tidy. He must have just been too glad to be home to have noticed yesterday.  
Finding a garbage bag, he opened it up and was throwing the empty food boxes in from his and Kiba's take out the previous night, loading the dish washer for the few glasses they'd used, but not going to waste water washing two cups, there'd be enough plates and cups to fill a couple loads later on, he turned to the fridge and opened it, expecting to have left some food in there by accident, only to find a fridge full of fresh food. Naruto stood staring at it for too long, his fridge beeped a high pitched noise to alert him it'd been left open and he quickly shut it; 1 minute after that loud beep, it was like a fire alarm, and he was still too tired to take that much noise.

Radio on in the background, Naruto hummed happily along as he mopped the kitchen floor, it seemed the only place the girls had not touched, apart from to plug the fridge back in and supply food, but he didn't mind, he felt he had to do _something_.  
Mopping the floor so he ended up against the back door to the garden, he stood out and cleaned the spot he'd been standing in before placing the mop back in the bucket against the house exterior wall.

Checking his phone, it read 10:35; he had about half an hour before Kiba arrived at the earliest, he could be waiting an hour and a half, so he flopped down into one of the deck chairs left open and closed his eyes against the morning sun. Breathing in the fresh air, he listened to his surroundings. He could hear birds chirping to his left, a neighbours dog shuffling about in their garden to his right, and the rustle of leaves in the trees at the bottom of his garden, which he felt moments later as it blew up his garden towards him. As he concentrated more, he noted he could hear a beeping noise from the direction of the front of his house, a whirring noise and a mechanical thunk as something locked into place. Curiosity got the better of him so he made his way around, through the side gate and round to the front, where he stood frozen as he saw the repair crew fixing the lamp posts. They were flickering but not staying on, causing the few guys scattered about to scratch their heads, one on their phone conveying what he was seeing. Naruto took a look in the direction of the shattered lamppost cover, and found it to be repaired and no shards evident on the floor, _they must have taken care of that first… unless… it never happened_… he mused. Deciding he had to know, he continued his way to the front of his drive and out the gate to the nearest repair guy.

"Hey, you repair the one that shattered?" he thought getting to the point would be easier than pointing the obvious 'so you're repairing the lights' starter topic.

"What shattered one?" came the uninterested voice, the guy not even looking at him, seeming to be concentrating on the guy in the vans elevator box messing around with the wires for the street lights to consider his tone of voice to be rude, paused for a moment and looked at Naruto upon realising what he'd asked. Repeating his question, Naruto pointed towards the end one on the left side of the street, of course it wasn't shattered, and the repair man gave more information than necessary in response that they were just responding to the lights going off during the storm, and that none of the lights had been in any state than the ones they were currently in, which was that they weren't working.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, said he must have been imagining things with the lightning and the lights flickering, and hurried back to his house, entering through the front door and sitting down in front of it, breathing heavy but not from his quick exit. He'd seen that light break, and he'd seen the shadowed figure stood under it. He couldn't get the image out of his mind. It had to have been real.

A breeze ran through the house, reminding the Blond that the back door was still open; the floor would be dry by now too.  
Dragging himself up, he trudged towards the kitchen. Sighing at the leaves and cut grass strewn about the floor, he grabbed a broom from the cupboard under the stairs (rofl hi Harry) and made to clean the leaves, only to find them no longer there. Fearing he was going a tiny bit insane, he ran to close the door, noticing for a split second the cut grass and leaves outside were being blown around creating a perfect swirl on the ground before soaring away with the wind. Shuddering, he ran back up to his room, showered and paced his room in a towel, every now and then rummaging through his draws to pull something out and throw it on his bed to add to the pile of clothes he might wear. Forcing himself to stop, he turned and picked out a top and pair of trousers, before grabbing some boxers and getting dressed.

* * *

**A/N:** So hope this makes up for the lack of any form of update. i'm half way through the next chapter, and i'm so slow it's unreal. though woke up this morning with a really good idea for something that happens later on. woo! but yes, have quite a few days off work in the next 2 weeks, so i'll be writing more. hopefuly.  
Reviews are welcomed! and i apologise in advance if i take forever to reply. xD


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry, forgot to give it a quick edit to put the line spacrer things in... my bad... still don't have a clue what to call this story, it focuses on dreams a tiny bit, and curses... i'm really crap with naming stories...  
ANYWAY on to the story! D:**

**Cursed / Dreams**

**Chapter 2**

Kiba arrived just after half 12, Sakura and Ino mildly complaining about how long it had taken, Kiba not even remotely concerned as he told them they were lucky to have made it at this time at all. Lee was a bouncing ball of energy as usual and seemed to take only 2 strides to reach Naruto's front door, embracing Naruto in a bone crushing hug as he mentally shuddered at Lee's usual clothing of a green one piece, spandex, outfit. He was still in this death hug when Sakura and Ino made their way up the drive, followed closely behind by Kiba who was failing to hold back his laughter, Akamaru running up and in the house to get out the heat.

"Naruto! To welcome you back home, we should do 100 laps around the garden perimeter, your youthful energy should not be wasted at such a vital time of your young life!" exclaimed Lee as he let Naruto go.

"Sure Lee, but can I see to Sakura and Ino first? It has been just as long since I've seen them, and it wouldn't be fair to just ignore them." Naruto seeking the help of Sakura or Ino, who were just reaching them.

"Lee! Leave Naruto alone, you don't think he's been skulking off while he's been away do you? Take a look at those arms; he's filled out a bit." Sakura all but whacked Lee around the head, missing Naruto blush at the compliment, of course everyone knew he had a crush on her, even Sakura herself.  
(A/N: Sorry, typical crush scenario I know, but it should hopefully give some more angst/confusion/jealousy later on… again, sorry…)

"Lets just get inside, it's getting too hot out here in the midday sun." snapped Ino, who'd had the displeasure of sitting next to Lee in the back seat, who'd insisted she do hand exercises and leg exercises as sitting in one position for a prolonged period of time could be harmful, to which she'd muttered "I'll show you something harmful" causing Sakura to giggle in the passenger seat in front of her.

Ino walking ahead, Sakura behind with Naruto at her heels asking how she'd been, Lee two steps behind them and Kiba still trailing behind them, he closed the door after himself and noticed Naruto's bags were still by the door.  
"Do you plan on putting these away or what, Naruto?" Kiba lightly kicked at the closest bag and heard something rattle.

"Huh? Oh yeah, forgot about those, will you help me drag 'em up to my room?" Naruto had his puppy dog eyes on, enough to rival Kibas own pup when he begged. He always gave in, and this was no exception.  
"Oh alright then. I'll take these two, you take that big one. Only fair."  
"Heh, sure."

Once all three bags were in Naruto's room, he unzipped one Kiba had been carrying and handed him a small box.

"For me? Thanks Naruto!" opening it, he found a wood carved whistle in the shape of a leaping wolf, a braided leather rope attached to hang it around his neck.  
"No problem, bud. It's hand carved, and I was told the guy was blind, he goes by instinct like the animals he carves. I know, I know, it might not be true, but either way, I think that's pretty awesome."  
Naruto refrained for the moment to say he'd met him as he'd been making that whistle, and been given it as a gift as the man had said he, Naruto, would know a good home for it.

Kiba had put the whistle around his neck, and proudly showed it off to everyone downstairs, who then begged and pleaded with Naruto for theirs when he'd told them he had something for each of them as well. But a firm 'No' had subdued them, the fact he had something for them making them happy enough for now.

Everyone went outside to the back garden and set up the few tables and chairs so it made one big table, once that was done, Naruto and Kiba headed back to Kibas car and went on a trip to the Ramen shop a few miles away. It wasn't one of the best, but ramen is ramen and Naruto just can't get enough of the stuff. And of course, it always tastes better when someone else is buying it for him.

"How long do we need to be out of their way? It's been 2 hours already." Naruto whined, they'd only been in the Ramen shop for an hour, and were now aimlessly driving around.

"Until one of them phones to let me know we can go back. You know what those two are like when you let them loose with these sort of things, Naruto, you brought it on yourself." Kiba chuckled, turning a corner that lead to a forest entrance, the trees here had a lot of space between them, but got more collected as you went deeper. As a result, part of the open spaces had been made into a kids play area, picnic area, and a set of swings. Of course, Naruto spotted the swings first, and was out the car as it was rolling to a stop.  
"Race ya!" was all Kiba heard as a trail of dust wafted up in Naruto's wake. He just sighed, turned off the engine, got out the car and locked it. He took his time walking over to a high swinging Naruto. Sitting on the one next to it, but facing the opposite way to Naruto, he started up his own momentum, and soon was swinging as high as Naruto.

They kept this up for a good ten minutes, before Kiba gave in and slowed down first, just letting gravity do its thing. Naruto noticed and did the same, and they eventually just had a gentile rocking motion of forwards and backwards, feet not leaving the ground.

"You met the guy, didn't you Naruto." It was a statement, not a question.

Naruto knew he was on about the person who made his whistle, he hesitated. That in itself just confirmed it for Kiba.

"That's pretty awesome if you ask me, and you said he 'goes by instinct'?"

Giving in a little, Naruto nodded, "Yeah, the place I visited was a small village in the mountains forrest, and that guy lived in this clearing; it was unreal. Imagine a wooden cabin next to a small lake, sat upon a cliff top over looking the valley below, and beyond that you could make out the sea. I'd stayed with him for a couple weeks just learning how he lives. He doesn't have any help at all from the other villagers, not that they wouldn't help him though. But all sorts of animals came up to that cabin; after all, it was a valued water source for most of the forests inhabitants." Naruto rested his head against one of the chains attached to the seat. He had a far away look on his face Kiba hadn't seen before, it was as if he wanted to go back, but terrified at the thought as well.

"What animals did you see, Naruto?" Kiba prodded, seeing a small flicker of uncertainty quickly replaced with a big grin, he could tell it was a little forced.

"Well, there was this giant brown bear that came once a day, at the exact same time too. He'd plod along to the same spot, and just splash about in the water (Naruto waves his arms in the air to imitate the bear). Once he came right up to the cabin, and I thought he was going to maul the guy, but he just held out his hand in a 'stop' motion and the bear put his nose to the palm, and then he turned around and went back into the forest." Kiba laughed a little at the child like wonder on Narutos face, though he couldn't blame him, it would have been pretty amazing to see that.

"What else? You said it was a valued water source, so there must have been more than just a bear." Kiba grinned.

There was that flicker of uncertainty again before Naruto continued, "Well of course, you have the usual caribou, deers, hares, even a fox and its pups! They were so cute, I wanted to pet one but I was advised not to, even though when I first saw them I'd spent almost over a week living and breathing in the cabin, I'd still smell foreign to them and the mother might abandon it. So I just enjoyed watching from afar."  
Naruto refrained from telling Kiba about the lone wolf that had visited on his first night there. It had just sat on the forest edge and watched him. He'd asked Sarutobi* about it, and he looked a little concerned and said not to worry about it, but not to go out after night fall. The wolf didn't come back after that first night, but when night fell, Naruto couldn't help but look over towards the place it had sat; feeling like it was still there watching him. (*A/N: I got annoyed referring to 'that guy' so yeah, it shall be the 3rd Hokage!)

His thoughts were interrupted by a buzzing noise, and then the Imperial March theme sprang to life from Kibas phone.  
Naruto just smirked at his best friend, he received an eye roll as he answered the phone.  
"Kiba, you can bring Naruto home now. Bye!"  
"The master has spoken…" Kiba said, not even getting a chance to say hello or bye to Sakura.  
"Ehehe… surely she's not that bad, Kiba." Naruto tried to protest a little. It was years ago that they had met, and whenever Naruto and Kiba did stupid things, she'd be the first one to hit them across the back of the head. Since then, they'd learnt not to get on her bad side. Her freakish strength had only increased as she got older, and now both boys feared for fractured skulls if they weren't in her good books. And this of course meant if she asked for something, they'd probably do it for her. Not that she'd be a slave driver, only ever important things. (If you exclude the one time she just wanted to be picked up after a long day of shopping with Ino, Naruto had gone to get them like a good little puppy; Kiba had given Sakura a stern telling off and Naruto got a clip round the ear for being stupid.)

Kiba just looked at Naruto, he debated telling him that Sakura and Ino had been planning this party since he'd gone. And when they plan, it must be perfect. So that meant he must arrive at a specific time too. Though Kiba wasn't too sure why, he knew what was going on, and it wasn't anything special, just friends gathering together. It wasn't like they'd get many chances during Uni, not all of them were off to the same one. Though he knew a few were glad a certain someone was going to a fancy art college 3 hours and a plane journey away.

"C'mon, lets head back before Sakura finds us and kills us, she'll only complain if she has to drag our dead bodies home." Kiba sighed.  
"She could just steal your car you know. She's not stupid." Naruto retorted, Kiba nodding his head in a 'oh yeah' sort of motion.

Kiba had started off towards the car first, Naruto about to follow when a twig snapping grabbed his attention, turning to face towards the deeper bit of the woods. It was mid day, so it wasn't exactly dark under the trees, but for some reason the deeper part of the forest seemed like it was night time. Naruto hadn't been here before, but he was pretty sure it shouldn't be like that, he shivered and ran to catch up to Kiba.  
"Hey, you ever noticed how…" Naruto trailed off when he was about to get in the car, looking up towards the forest and seeing that sunlight was filtering through, the dark dissipating along with that uneasy feeling he'd gotten in his gut.

"What is it, Naruto?" Kiba asked, leaning over to get a look at Naruto who was standing with one leg in the car.  
"Oh, never mind. It's nothing." Naruto climbed in and buckled his seat belt, turning to give Kiba a 'come on, drive' look before facing forwards once again. As Kiba turns the car around and onto the road, Naruto looks out the rear view mirror and almost cries out in alarm when he sees a pure black wolf sat right next to the swing he'd been sat in, turning around in his seat to look out the back window, it's like the wolf has just vanished into thin air.  
"What the hell are you doing? Sit back!" Kiba elbows Naruto, who comes to his senses and stutters for a moment before digging his phone out his pocket and making a show of being relieved that he found it. "Sorry, I thought I'd left it back there, eheh…" Naruto just scratches the side of his head in embarrassment, hoping Kiba believed that, what with him semi-concentrating on driving.

"Ah, we all do that, chill would you, we could have easily just turned back around for it. You got your wallet? That would have had a better chance of falling out being in your back pocket." Kiba was more matter-of-fact when behind the wheel; he wasn't going to mess around when he was in charge of other people's safety. These tend to be the times Kiba is serious, and it's far and few between him giving anyone lifts if they have their own car. He's not a stiff when it comes to that sort of thing, he just prefers to go along with people rather than say "I want to go here, I'll drive us…" cause he would.  
(A/N: I tend to go off topic a bit don't I? sorry… it'll happen less and less the further into the story you get, as you'll know the characters better. Just trying to get their personalities out there and out the way. It's going to be like this a lot when all the characters are mentioned at the party I think… at least a little side of 'this person is artsy, musical, just plain lazy'. And you immediately thought of Shika, right? haha)

It takes them about half an hour to get back to Narutos house, several cars are now parked up the long drive, a few he recognises and some he doesn't, but he doesn't think too much about that.

Stepping through the front door, the house is eerily quiet, and Naruto can't help but freeze for a second. A beach ball bounces then rolls its way out the kitchen door and all at once he can hear laughter and people talking.  
Kiba slaps him on the back, "your audience awaits you, sir." He laughs as he makes his way past him and through the kitchen door, out of sight. He can hear everyone quite down and a smile plays on his lips, closing the front door behind him, Naruto makes his way to the back garden through the kitchen, grabbing a beer bottle off the counter on his way.  
He steps into the garden and everyone jumps up shouting "SURPRISE!" which Naruto rolls his eyes at while laughing, it was a bit of a surprise to see half the faces here actually, it seemed like everyone he knew was here.

Naruto almost choked on his beer when Gai-Sensei appeared beside him and put his arm around his shoulders, squeezing as he all but shouted in the Blonds ear.  
"Naruto! I hear you were out in the big wide world, searching and exploring the lands! What a fine Youthful young man you are! Your youthful energy is so vibrant! Lee, you should learn from him!" at this Gai left Naruto to go do some form of ridiculous exercise with Lee, something like 1000 laps around the garden, and if that wasn't enough, they'd include the fields beyond the fence. Naruto just sighed, shook his head, and went over to see a struggling Tsunade, who'd got stuck into the Sake, already finished one bottle from the looks of it, and trying to wrestle the others out of Shizune's arms.  
"Hey, old hag! Give it a break, school starts soon, you better learn to sober up." It was meant as a joke, but insulting Tsunade, the head teacher as it were, when she was tipsy wasn't the best approach. "Are you trying to say I'm a drunk! I'll have you know I can handle my drink, thank you very much, you little brat."

Naruto was saved from getting into a verbal match with Tsunade as Sakura and Ino pulled Naruto away, to join their group of friends his age; he was greeted with hugs and fist bumps for those not comfortable with human contact. Of course, Naruto wasn't one to follow the rules. He glomps Gaara, sending them to the floor as he stared wide eyed at a laughing Naruto on top of him.  
"It's thanks for saving my ass at the beginning of the summer, dude. I don't know what I'd have done if I'd missed that plane!" Standing up and holding a hand out for Gaara, he pulls him up as Temari helps pat the dust off her brother, a small smile escaping remembering his face as he was going down. "You really should have known he'd do that eventually, Gaara." Kankuro said from his other side, not helping in the slightest, a "troublesome" could be heard amongst them, no guesses at to who that came from.

A flash of green ran past them, voices trailing behind in their wake; "Can you feel that, Lee? It's that Autumn feeling approaching, but it will never douse the fire with which our passions burn! Lets pick it up a pace, shall we?"  
"Yes, Gai-Sensei!" came the enthusiastic response from Lee.  
Akamaru barked and ran after them when they passed, Kiba went to call him back, but thought better of it; he'll get tired long before those two do.

"So, Naruto, where abouts did you go? We're all curious about it." Sakura asked innocently.  
"Well, you know, Miami, LA, New York, the big city places." Naruto replied, hoping that would put a stop to any more questions.  
"Awwh, but we could have come along for that! Why didn't you say?" Ino pouted next to Sakura, who scoffed "We do wonder why, he wouldn't want to see your face on his holiday, Ino-pig!" She received a slap on the arm, but it was half hearted, Ino knew Sakura had been thinking the same. Naruto sighed, he'd have to give them a bit more.  
"Well you could have actually, but I wasn't there for very long, just a few days to see the sights really. I'd got a phone call to go back home."  
Sakura and Ino didn't know what to say, the rest of their group had fallen silent too, just staring at Naruto with looks of concern.  
"Are… Are you okay? What happened?" this time it was Tenten who stepped up to ask. He just looked at her with a sad smile, "Yeah, surprisingly, I'll tell you about it another time, okay? I just don't know how to… explain it."

Everyone knew Narutos parents weren't the kindest around, they shipped him off to boarding schools as soon as they could, no one knew why, neighbours still around had said they adored him as a baby, but it happens. The 'honeymoon' phase of having a new baby wears off, and it takes its toll, even on couples who'd been together as long as they had. And yet, Naruto never complained, he was more grateful for them sending him away because he wasn't there to see his father turn to drink and start hitting his mother, she in turn developed a mental disorder, she'd waste hours staring out the window, and sometimes nothing could bring her around, she'd just have to come out of it on her own. But they were stubborn people and refused to seek help, not seeing a problem with the way things were. So Naruto was grateful, he'd met friends for life in those schools, and when he heard he'd have to go back home because there wasn't any money to keep him there, the head teacher at that school had used his own money to make sure Naruto stayed. He hardly knew the people he called his parents. They were strangers to him, and when he was old enough, he decided he'd never see them again, choosing to live on his own than with them.

"Okay, enough with the depressing shit; let's get some tunes on!" Kiba hollered, making everyone within listening distance jump.  
"Sounds like a good plan!" Choji said, as he finished off his third plate of party food.  
"How troublesome," came the lazy drawl from Shikamaru who was laid on the grass slope next to the decking where everyone else was stood.  
"C'mon Shika, even you have to join in." Ino called as the music flared to life and everyone started to dance.  
"No thank you, I'm quite happy down here." Was the reply, before he closed his eyes; Ino laughing behind her hand when she saw his foot was tapping along to the beat.

* * *

Naruto, tired from dancing, took a breather and grabbed a drink from what was left. Jiraiya was sat on a chair at the end of the table, snoozing away as if the volume of the music was as soothing as listening to the rain pouring down.  
"Geeze, there is plenty of space, go grab a room you old fart." Naruto made a move to kick the chair, but he found himself on his arse, looking up to a smirking Jiraiya. "What the?" was all he could say.

"Ah, Naruto my boy, you still have a lot to learn." He smirked at Naruto, who stood up and dusted himself off, sending a glare at Jiraiya. "Like what, ero-sennin?" Naruto rolls his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest.  
"Like, you ungrateful student of mine, my new book. It will be out soon, but I could get you a copy early, if you ask nicely."  
At the words of Jiraiya's new book, Kakashi seemed to appear out of no where. "When is it out?" was just a simple question asked, no sound of utter desperation in it, but everyone knew Kakashi adored the books Jiraiya wrote. "You'll get one as soon as I do, Kakashi, and that should be within a week or so." Jiraiya sighed. This happened every time a new book was due out, be it phone call, or in person, he always asked, and the answer was always the same. He should have learnt after the first 4 that Kakashi would receive one of the complimentary copies sent out by the publisher.

"I'm going to go round everyone up, meet us in the living room in ten minutes, okay?" Naruto said to the pair, hoping they heard, Kakashi was too busy 'discussing' the previous books; the good parts and the… even better parts. Naruto shook his head and walked off.

* * *

"Okay, I called you all in here mainly because it was starting to get pretty cold out there, not to mention dark, so we've moved into the house, things should be set up on the dining room table, so off you go, enjoy. If you want me, I'll be in here kicking ass on Rock Band."  
And with that, he turned around to set up the drum kit, seeing Kiba and Kankuro go after the guitars, while Temari grabbed the mic. Shikamaru, Choji, Neji, Shino and Gaara sat on one couch, Tenten, Sakura, Ino and Hinata sat on the other, cheering them on.

They swapped controllers every few songs, and they were all exhausted by the end of it, Naruto having been the one singing the last round, gave the mic up in favour of checking on whoever wasn't in the living room.

He found most of the adults sat at the dining room table, having cleared half of it to play some card game. Tsunade was winning, which was never a good sign. A second later, she declared she was out of sake, and went to grab some more, only to find it was empty. Luckily, her winning streak ended there. The bad thing to happen was no more sake for Tsunade. Naruto just let them know most of the others were going to head for bed, so best go grab a room while they can. With that, they all seemed to stand up in union and make a dash for the rooms. Not wanting to be stuck sharing with anyone, and the younger adults won't have anything to say as they would rather share with their friends than with them.

Naruto made his way into the kitchen to grab a few bin bags, and found the garden lights were on, Lee and Gai were still out there, but now it looked like they were doing squats and push ups. Naruto turned the lights off and on again and they ran to the kitchen door, Naruto telling them the same at the others, but they just said they enjoyed sleeping under the stars. Naruto decided he'd go grab them some blankets anyway.

An hour later found Naruto placing things in bin bags as quietly as possible, having finished cleaning the kitchen, Gai-Sensei and Lee having decided that it was too cold to stay outside, and made camp in the dining room instead. Lee was talking in his sleep, and Naruto was trying to hold back the laughter, until he said something about Sakura and that shut Naruto up, making fast work of the dining room to escape the awkward atmosphere he'd created.  
He moved into the living room to find Shikamaru asleep at one end of the couch, legs propped up on the foot rest that pops out of the couch, Kiba the same on the other one, Akamaru by his feet, twitching in his sleep. Naruto grabbed a couple blankets and covered them all, careful not to disturb Akamaru the most.

Making his way up the stairs, he could hear muffled words coming from a few of the bedrooms, and he hurried along to his own when he heard an undeniable moan.

Safe in his own bed, Naruto looked over to his bed side clock and saw it read just after 2:30. He had a day of packing to do later on. But he wasn't going to rush it, he still had to get the U-Haul tow, and pick up a few of his friends things too. He was going to enjoy a lay-in though, that he knew for sure.

He'd been asleep for just over an hour, restless sleep at that. Despite the evening being chilly, having so many bodies in the house was really heating it up. So, half asleep, Naruto rolled out of bed, debating if he should just roll over to the window too, but settled on shuffling over, sticking his hand between the curtains and blindly locating the window latch, he pushed it open and a flood of cool air hit him, forcing a content sigh from Narutos lips as he turned back towards his bed. Another breeze rolled into his room, but this one chilled him to the bone, freezing him to the spot by the window, back turned to it. The street lights glow could be seen out the corner of his eye, muted slightly by the thin curtains. He wasn't sure how long he was stood there, but seconds felt like hours, and finally he heard the noise he'd been dreading, praying he wouldn't hear. It was a low growl, coming from outside. It sounded far away, and Naruto was glad his bedroom resided in the attic. His slight relief was cut short when he saw the street lights light get blocked by a shadow. Fear grabbed at him as he felt a warm puff of air flow through the window and against his neck. It was too much, his heart was hammering against his chest, tears tingled at the back of his eyes, threatening to come forth. When he heard the next low growl, it sounded like the thing was saying his name, and that was all it took, Narutos vision went black as he fell to his knees then forwards to the floor just as his bedroom door burst open, Akamaru bounding in, barking at the window. A sleepy Kiba in his wake a few seconds later missed the shadow disappear from the window, eyes zeroing in on Naruto who was passed out on the floor.  
Thinking his friend had maybe too much to drink, Kiba just shook his head, a small laugh escaping as he playfully shoved Akamaru out the way so he could grab an arm and hoist Naruto upright enough for him to drag him to his bed.

When Kibas work was done, Naruto back in bed, his many covers pulled up to his neck, Kiba went over to the window and closed it, he felt the room was far too cold, even for Naruto, and made his way back to the couch downstairs, having to physically pull Akamaru out with him after he'd seemingly refused to leave Narutos side, mumbling about "he'll play with you tomorrow, let him sleep."

* * *

**A/N** so. um, yeah, please don't kill me about Narutos parents! BARE WITH ME! IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK! *spoilers* ... 'eh it's pretty easy to figure out the characters when you read the manga/ watch the anime... :/ but inform me if there are mistakes... i noticed one in the last chapter, i'd put "stood" instead of "stepped" but i'll change that pretty soon-ish as that is still in the edit bit! =)


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N:** finally finished this chapter, and other stories will be updated in the following days. reasons for why it took like, 2 more months to complete are at the end of this chapter. i know, i suck. i'm sorry. :( hope this chapter makes up for it even a tiny bit.  
Sorry if these dream beginings annoy you but it's just to show it's the same dream he keeps having...

**Cursed / Dreams**

**Chapter 3**

_~He walks on an endless sea of dull white clouds. His feet touch ground, and the clouds appear to evaporate as he walks further forward. He comes to a stop at a cliff top, the sea below is a deeper blue than before, waves building as the wind gains speed, he has to sit down or he'll be blown off the cliff, but he's not stupid to sit at the edge this time, he sits further back, surprised to find he's now leaning against something.  
Something warm.  
And breathing.  
His heart starts to pound as he's frozen in place, he can feel the breath of the creature blow the top of his hair and he tries not to squirm, he can feel the vibrations of a growl beginning.  
Just when he thinks it can't get any worse, the thing moves back, leaving Naruto to fall backwards…~_

"Ahh!" Naruto shoots upright, panting hard and clutching at his chest as his heart slams against his ribcage, or feels like it at least. He's shaking violently, and it takes several minutes before he can even begin to calm himself down. He whimpers as he lowers his head in his hands, he's not sure why he's so scared.  
"It was just a dream, it was just a dream, only a freaking dream…" He keeps repeating this over and over till he's calmed down enough to think straight. Checking the time, he considered it to still be too early for some people, but figured others will probably be up soon if not already.

Getting out of his tangle of blankets, he stumbles over to the bathroom, grabbing a fresh pair of boxers on his way.  
Showered, shaved and teeth brushed, he switches on his phones radio while he finds something to wear, realising he'd still not put his laundry in from his trip so his hope of wearing some cut-off cargo pants were dashed. Opting for some baggy jeans with some wear-and-tear holes in the knees, he slipped on a tank top and grabbed his bag with the laundry in it, emptying it of everything else.

Making his way downstairs, he noticed a few doors were open, and as he reached the stairs to the ground floor, he could hear the TV; it seemed who ever had gotten in there first had decided on a cooking programme. Sure enough, poking his head round the door, he saw Shikamaru still asleep in the same position as last night, with Kibas pillow on top of his head. Kiba was sat snuggled into his blanket, staring sleepily at the TV, absentmindedly stroking Akamaru's ears. He supposed the reason for the cooking programme was due to Tsunade and Kakashi sat on Shikamaru's couch, both with cups of coffee from the smell of it.

Sneaking back out, he walked to the kitchen, greeting Iruka who was cooking some eggs and bacon while watching the same cooking show but on the small TV mounted in the corner next to the cooker.  
Naruto set about separating his clothes before putting them in the machine. With that done, it seemed there'd only be two loads of washing; He hadn't exactly taken much with him. With the washing machine humming away, Naruto grabbed a bowl of cereal and sat next to Kiba in the living room. The chef on TV was making some fancy version of an omelette that 'anyone could make' which Naruto snorted at and glanced at Kiba who just responded by elbowing him in the ribs.

Hearing the washing machine do its little 'washing's done' tone, he grabbed a wash basket and the tub of pegs from the cupboard on the way into the kitchen, he set his basket load on the table outside, startled slightly with Gaara sitting at it, and set about putting the washing line back up. With that done, he hopped back inside to put the next load of washing in before hanging the wet clothing up to dry in the morning sun.  
Grabbing a cup of coffee on his way back through the kitchen, he resumed his place next to Kiba as the 10 o'clock news came on. Someone channel flicked till they came upon something everyone was happy watching while waiting for the rest of the household to wake up.

Second load of washing done and out to dry, it was about 12 when the last person finally stumbled down the stairs, Jiraiya surprise surprise. With everyone piled into the living room, most of the adults having claimed the couches, leaving the floor to everyone else, Naruto quickly ran up to his room and grabbed the bag that had everyone's presents in.  
When everyone had received their gifts, giving Naruto hugs, fist bumps or kisses on the cheek from the girls, it was about time for some lunch. The washing had been dry for some time and Sakura and Ino took it upon themselves to fold them neatly and stack them in the basket, placing the full basket in the hallway for when he went up to his room.  
Deciding it was too good a day to be wasting it cooking inside, they got the barbeque set up as Kiba and Shikamaru hopped off to get some food; Sakura not having planned for that little bump in her plans.  
The coals were nicely burning away when Kiba returned, cheers and whoops greeted him as he stepped out holding the shopping bags up as a trophy, another round of cheers when Shikamaru produced some beers that were hidden behind his back.  
Seeing as most of the adults had driven there, they ruefully declined the beer offer, except Tsunade who grabbed one before a protesting Shizune could take it from her, earning her a sigh of defeat at the thought of driving a drunken Tsunade home.

The fun started to die down a little around 6 o'clock, Uni started in a few days and they all needed to pack and organise travel arrangements, so having said their good byes, they dispersed. Sakura and Ino stayed behind to help clean up, Naruto could only guess Kiba had made a run for it in the hopes of Guy Sensei taking Lee home instead, but promising he'd be back later to pick the girls up.  
True to his word, an hour later found the three sitting on the front porch enjoying the sunset, the sky different shades of pink and purple, with only a tiny strip of blue. Sakura and Ino were sitting on the step, while Naruto leaned against the support beam next to them.  
"I'm going to miss these summer nights," sighed Ino, Sakura hummed in agreement, having decided to lean back on her elbows to absorb the last of the suns rays. Naruto seemed to miss the statement as he took in the sun set. There was red starting to seep into the mix, and it made him feel uneasy again. Luckily his mind was taken from it when he noticed Kibas car rolling from the top of the road. Sakura and Ino both gave Naruto hugs that left him within an inch of his life, before meeting Kiba at the gate. Naruto just stayed where he was and waved to Kiba, laughing slightly when he could see Akamaru going nuts in the back, pawing at the mesh separating it from the rest of the car. He was too far away to see that his ears were back, and was barking louder than usual as they drove off. As great as it had been to see almost everyone, he just wanted to crash and do his own thing now, he'd see almost all of them at Uni anyway.

Locking doors and windows, he decides on a nice relaxing bath and an early night, he was just so exhausted, physically and mentally.

Doing a quick check to make sure no one had left anything in the spare rooms, Naruto climbs the stairs to his room, rubbing at his face to try shift some of the tiredness. Upon entering his room, he stripped down to his boxers, it was still light enough outside to not bother with any indoor lights just yet.  
In the bathroom, he starts the bath running, rummaging around in his still-unpacked bag for some bathing oils he'd been given when visiting one of the villages, it was said to help relax and bring deep peaceful dreams, and as of late he'd not been having many of the good ones.

With the bath steaming, Naruto stripped off the remaining boxers, and eased himself into the tub.  
"Aaah~ that hit the spot. Doesn't smell too bad either, maybe shouldn't have put that much in… I'll remember that… next time…_zzz…_"

~_~He walks on an endless sea of dull white clouds. His feet touch ground, and the clouds appear to evaporate as he walks further forward. He comes to a stop at a cliff top, sun is shinning, some birds are chirping, and the breeze is nice and warm. The foreboding feeling that came with this scenery wasn't present this time, and Naruto found himself laying on his back under the suns rays.  
All too suddenly the peace is shattered, storm clouds over head let the rain fall, but it's like they're aiming at him, and soon finds he's in a fast growing puddle, "this is crazy, how can a puddle get deeper on flat ground?" but it's like a pit is opening up under him and he's too far away from solid ground. He starts to cough after he sinks for a few seconds, then he's under once more and it feels like forever before he breaks the surface again. He's wheezing from lack of air, and his vision is going black, he tries to fight it but it's too much and he just gives in, the darkness claims him…~ (end dream)_

_Cold… why am I so cold? _Naruto tries to open his eyes but it feels like they're glued shut. He tries again and manages a small slit as if one were squinting, he tries not to move when he realises he's on the floor, he also notices his bathroom door is open and there's a pair of bare legs and feet sneaking out of the room on tip-toe. Inadvertently Naruto lets out a groan, and sees the feet freeze mid step and turn slightly, he assumes for them to look back at him, they seem to hesitate, rolling back so this persons feet are fully on the floor before quickly making a hasty exit from Narutos limited vision. He's not sure if he's relieved or saddened, he should be scared shitless in his defenceless position on the floor naked but he can't seem to bring himself to care that much, it sounds stupid even to himself, but the sight of those feet didn't send off worrying vibes, in fact quite the opposite, the feeling of relief was dumbfounding. More so when his heart seemed to stop when those feet came back into view, and despite stepping fully on the floor, he couldn't hear anything, only the sound of a blanket being thrown over him, face included, before he felt himself being lifted off the ground. "Nnngh" Was the only sound he could do, and in some bizarre universe, he hoped that sounded like a 'thank you' when he felt himself being placed on his bed, covers piled on top of him. A vibration resonating through him like an annoyed sigh was probably a response, but he was slipping back into darkness again and he wanted to see who this person was. Struggling to move, let alone untangle himself, was a futile battle, but Naruto was stubborn and with enough shuffling he managed to peep out into his bedroom.

It was empty, save for the balcony doors being slightly ajar, the cool air from the night seeping through enough to still feel nice sent Naruto shrinking back into his covers, heart clenching in a weird way, like disappointment yet acceptance, what was he expecting? With that he let himself drift off to sleep, this time dreaming about the sea side and snorkelling in the shallow waters, warm sun upon his back.

When Naruto woke up the next morning, he felt more refreshed than he had in months, and couldn't seem to be up fast enough to get on with packing things up to take with him to Uni.  
Breakfast down, Naruto returns back to his room, taking with him the basket of clean clothing this time. He fully empties his previous bags of everything, laying the items out on his (now made) bed, it was mostly toiletries left as every bit of clothing he'd taken had been washed, there's only so much river washing can do. Taking every bit of clothing he owned and laid them out in piles of trousers, tops, underwear, he grabbed his biggest bag and placed them neatly in the bottom, followed by the bare essentials of toiletries; tooth brush, tooth paste, mouthwash, floss, and travel sized bottles of shampoo and conditioner. In a separate smaller bag nestled between clothing for fear of breaking were the oils in glass bottles he'd been given, including the one he'd used last night. He'd had such a great sleep, he couldn't even remember getting out the bath and into bed. In plastic bags on top were the few pairs of shoes he owned and a pair of flip flops. Closing the bag with ease, he set it to one side as he looked around his room for anything he'd left behind. Taking one of the carry-on bags, he placed a few books in and his laptop, taking care to remember the charger for it this time. Oh that had been a fun first semester.

Calling up the U-Haul to confirm they had one available, Naruto took off to pick it up. The drive was uneventful and long, the guy he saw didn't seem to know what he was doing, so it took twice as long as it should have, and by the time he was on his way home with the trailer it was nearing dinner time and his stomach was growling. In a collective, he'd been on the road for 7-ish hours, having left his home around half 12 and not bothering with lunch as he'd get something on the drive back, he arrived at the U-Haul depo at 3pm, and left at half 4. By the time he came across a fast food service station, it was nearing 6o'clock. Having stuffed his face to his hearts content, he was back on the road around 7, and having a full stomach, he was taking his time driving back. He had about an hour drive left yet, so he cranked up the radio and wound the windows down to let the remaining summer breeze roll in, cooling off the exhausting days work. Naruto laughed again at the U-Haul guys stupidity, and how he'd practically told him how to do his job.

Nearing some familiar scenery, he turns the volume down till it's still heard over the noises of his car, and just breathes in deep. Tomorrow he'll be doing a quick round to pick up the big things people want to take, mainly over sized bags from Sakura and Ino, but also Akamaru's dog food and bed plus another few things. Thankfully the people who lived further out came to him with their stuff, otherwise it'd be another long day travelling on his own, and then the next day was the journey to Uni, which he was looking forward to. As a small tradition, they had a stop along the half way mark where they'd set up a small camp using their cars as shelter, and talk about what they hopped to get out the year ahead of them. They slept there over night, had breakfast and set off early. They'd done it the previous year to mark the beginning of Uni and it was a fun thing to do, so why not make it a yearly thing?

When Naruto rolled to a stop outside his porch, the sun was almost set, reminding Naruto it was the end of summer soon, he'd really miss the long days. Moving his bags down to the entrance hallway, he decided to have a quick shower to wash off the day's dirt, then pulling on his fluffy dressing gown, made his way down to the living room to watch any film that was on TV. It wasn't looking so good; horror, horror, chick flick, horror, rom-com that was just plain cheesy, and some terribly acted action film. He'd have thought there'd be better films on on a Sunday night. Clearly he was mistaken. Flicking channels he came across CSI Miami just starting, and had a bit of fun copying Horatio as he said something, paused to put on his shades, continue his sentence, then the intro music would start; "Well, you know what they say Frank- *puts sunglasses on* Speed kills" - "YEEEEEEEEAH!"  
Oh he did love a bit of a CSI marathon every now and then, and before he knew it, it was nearing 4am and he'd planned to start early to pick up everyone's stuff so he'd be back home for when the others dropped their things off. Rushing to turn the TV off, he stumbles about in the darkness to get up to his room, throwing his robe off and diving into bed, it takes a while for sleep to get him. He didn't dream of anything, and he's woken by the sound of his door bell ringing and someone banging on the door itself. Jumping out of bed and almost forgetting to grab some shorts, he finds Kiba at the door. Confused, he doesn't really know what to say, so Kiba just rolls his eyes. "Give us a hand would you? I decided since I was passing the girls houses, I'd pick up their things on my way here. It wasn't fair on you to pick everything up last time," Naruto just nodded and followed Kiba to his monster of a car, noticing Akamaru wasn't with him. "Hey, where's 'Maru?"  
"Oh, he's at home, he'd have probably ripped apart something, if not his dog food. I swear he has a hatred of the girls belongings."  
"Ahh, okay. Well just start moving them around to the back on the trailer and I'll stack 'em in there."

It half filled the trailer, Kiba having got two big bags of dog food and a few of Akamaru's things, Sakura and Ino had two big (and I mean big) bags each and another two half sized bags each.

"Oh yeah, I hope you don't mind picking up Lee's weights, Gai Sensei was supposed to be picking his things up, but something came up, hope you don't mind, I just remembered you had a fair bit of space left last time." Kiba scratched the back of his head, a nervous habit he'd gotten from Naruto.

"Nah, it's no problem, only mine and Shikamaru's bags to stick in there, and he never packs more than a duffle bag anyway. Let them know I'll be by later after lunch, and tell everyone we'll be leaving at 1pm tomorrow, meeting at the usual place at 11, so we can double check everything before we set off. I'll get Sakura to make a list of essential things we all must have."

"Sure thing, I'll catch you later." And with that, Kiba jumps back into his car and speeds off, leaving Naruto grinning after him with envy.

Once back inside, Naruto gives Sakura a quick call to see if she'll make a list of things they'd need, like chargers for phones/laptops, got their wallets and any cards they'd die without, that sort of thing. It wasn't much of a list, but out of them all she was the only reliable one with a printer.

After grabbing a light lunch with the left over food, Naruto took the drive up to Shikamaru first, who's dad opened the door, gave Naruto a bear hug and shouted for his lazy ass son to get his butt down and give Naruto his bag. He couldn't help but laugh when he saw the bag was already by the door, and a disgruntled Shikamaru yawning as he appeared behind Naruto who was still stood outside. After a brief chat about what the plans were for tomorrow, Shikamaru said Kiba was picking him up, but if it was okay with Naruto, he'd probably continue on in his car once they got to the midway point. All confirmed and reconfirmed to check Shikamaru had actually been listening, Naruto put Shikamaru's bag in the back seat and took off to Lee's house.

He'd kill Kiba when he next saw him. Lee had thought Naruto was hiring a big truck and had proceeded to pack up his gym set. And considering Lee's entire house seemed to be a gym conversion, it was a lot of stuff. Naruto wasn't sure that, even if he _had_ been able to take it, where it would have gone; the dorm rooms aren't that big and spacious.  
After a sulk and a pout later, Lee had narrowed his gym equipment down to leg weights and a bench press, which managed to fit quite nicely in the space left over. Naruto left reminding Lee of the next days plans, and that if he wanted to take anything else, to put it in his own cars trunk, it was what those things were for after all.

Getting back home, Naruto placed Shikamaru's bag in the trailer, and ran to grab his own, sticking it in and locking it up, he made sure it was secure before fully relaxing in his living room in nothing but his fluffy dressing gown, beer to hand, waiting for the pizza delivery to arrive.

It felt like forever and Narutos stomach was grumbling by the time the door bell went, rushing to pay the guy and chow down on his pizza, he didn't notice how shifty the delivery guy seemed, he had a fringe covering both eyes under his hat and Naruto barely had time to process how the hell he could drive with that in the way before he'd disappeared down to his car parked by the gate, Naruto stood in the doorway looking slightly confused as he sped away. Shrugging it off, he kicked the door shut as he opened the box, inhaling the delicious smell as he sunk into his couch, a happy hum noise making its away out when he turned the TV on to find another CSI marathon just starting up.

Naruto called it a night at 1am, having made the mistake of taking the rubbish out and coming back into the room when the next episode had started and it was just too interesting to miss, making sure to turn the TV off before he could even catch a glimpse of the ads.

Alarm going off at 8am, Naruto groaned and set it to snooze another half hour. He had plenty of time to get things ready anyway. The extra half hour seeming to make him more tired instead, he rolled out of bed to get himself something to eat, that always woke him up fully.

Emptying all bins, and filling the cool box with the remaining food, he unplugged the fridge, and made sure he had everything he'd need; grabbing all the blankets and pillows off his bed and stuffing them into his trunk and running back to grab his much loved fluffy dressing gown. Double checking the alarm system was still functioning, the guy on the other end of the phone saying they were getting the test signal ok, Naruto proceeded to lock everything up. Car packed, trailer securely shut, Naruto took another look at the house before setting off.

As expected, he was the first to arrive, Sakura and Ino not too far behind, Sakura handing Naruto the list he'd asked for, noticing she'd printed off several, each with the persons name on, and what she thought they'd consider essential, Naruto knew he'd picked the right person to ask, giving her a hug to hopefully convey his gratitude.  
Lee turned up next, and you could tell he'd put more weights in the trunk, the back end was sunk almost to the point of grinding on his tyres.  
Kiba and Shikamaru arrived around 12noon, Akamaru jumping about in the back with everyone being together again.  
Tenten, Neji and Hinata arrived at half 12, followed by Choji and Shino who grumbled about stopping at the super market and buying too much junk food and now the car smelt of cheesy puff things, Shikamaru instantly going to join Choji who was sat on the front of his car, checking off the list Sakura had given him.

"Right, everyone checked and sorted? Good, then I declare this journey started! Let's go!" Naruto fist pumped the air as he jumped into his car, everyone else cheered and climbed into their own, one by one following Naruto to the half way point 'camping grounds'.

As a little surprise to everyone, Naruto had bought some walkie talkies, and stashed them in the glove compartments when his friends weren't looking. He laughed when he tested it out, looking at Kiba who was behind him in the line and saw him jump a mile when he spoke through it, Shikamaru not even flinching as he opened the glove box and got out the walkie talkie. His sarcastic voice coming through, "Thanks for that, Naruto."

"Eheh, anytime, Shika." Naruto just grinned as he drove along; this was going to be a fun journey.

Two hours later, and the walkie talkies were still in use, though for the past half hour, it had been used to debate where they should stop for food, and then complain when they drove past the last one before the halfway point.

"Guys, you're forgetting we have food on us, weren't we going to have ourselves a little camp fire going once we get there?"

Static-y sounding grunts of "yeah" came through the speaker, and another half an hour had them all pulling into a country road with trees and bushes dotted along each side, travelling for about ten minutes, before coming into a dead-end flat clearing on top of a hill, over looking a village a couple miles away. It must have been a hot spot for them, there were benches set up and even an info board on local events like fireworks displays. It just so happened to be a couple in the villages 50th anniversary, so there would be a small fireworks display that evening, starting when it got dark.

With the cars parked in a circle-like shape, Naruto, who'd been reading the board, gathered everyone to give each capable person instructions. Lee was to set up the fire, if anyone was going to sit there for about half an hour rubbing two sticks together, it'd be him. So off Lee went, gathering what looked like hairy bark from a near by tree, muttering something about that being essential to any fire started from scratch. Naruto had gotten the cool box from in his car and had it near where the fire was being set up. The girls were huddled around Ino's car, gossiping and chatting while Kiba threw a stick for Akamaru, trying to wear him out a little bit before dinner.  
Shikamaru and Choji had resumed their position on Choji's car, cloud watching, while Shino and Neji were moving the heavy stone benches to a more useful position around the soon-to-be fire.

Fire roaring, and Lee running around gathering twigs and things to keep the fire going, everyone had taken their place around the camp fire, each with a stick and something on the end, be it a sausage, bit of chicken, or a marshmallow, the chatter was lively and laughter filled the air. All too soon the blankets were being handed out with the darkening sky, not too long after, the first firework went off, Naruto was the first to jump up and cheer, almost losing his blanket in the process. Settling back down, he twisted to get a better view from his seat, he just loved fireworks.

It had seemed as soon as they'd started, they stopped, only the odd one going off every now and then.  
"Right, think it's time to call it a night. Lee, could you get it so the fire keeps going for a bit longer, and if someone who isn't driving could maybe keep an eye on it so it doesn't go out, that'd be fantastic. Well, night guys!" And with that, Naruto jumped into the back of his car, having put the back seats down to give him a bit more room, he could hear the murmur as the rest got up and did the same. He drifted off to sleep to the crackle of the fire, muffled slightly by the car windows.

He wasn't sure what time it was, but it was still slightly dark out when he was woken up by a screeching sound which seemed to vibrate through his car. Terror gripped Naruto as he felt around for his baseball bat, a growl coming from the passenger side of the car, and he couldn't help but whip towards it. He wished he hadn't. Blood red eyes were staring at him, the breath from this thing fogging up the window. Barking brought Naruto back, and both he and the thing looked towards Kibas car, a blur of white shooting from the side and right at the creature. A howl rippled through the air, and a whimper as Akamaru was thrown off. Naruto could see the thing turn to look at him once again, an almost human emotion flickered through those eyes before it turned tail and ran away, merging with the shadows of the breaking dawn.  
(A/N; you'll probably be reminded of twilight there… stupid books stealing a good… metaphor? Ah I'm too tired to figure that one out.)

Naruto released a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. Shikamaru appeared at the window where the thing had been looking through, and he slumped back and closed his eyes, trying to even out his breathing before getting out the car. Akamaru's head was being cradled in Kibas lap, who looked up to Naruto and had a teary eyed smile, "He'll be fine, just some superficial bruising, the only thing seriously injured is his ego. Looks like he found something he can't take on, ay?" Naruto didn't have it in him to even force a smile.  
"Um, Naruto, you might want to take a look at this." Shikamaru was still stood by Naruto's car, and staring at a point on it. Walking over, he halted, glued to the spot. Four slices ran along the back passenger door, demolishing the handle from ever being used anytime soon. He'd seen those kind of markings before, they were exactly like the marks he'd seen in the forest, which was hundreds of miles and a plane ride away from here. He could feel himself starting to hyperventilate, and sat down on the balls of his feet, resting against the back of the car for support.

"Naruto, did you see what it was?" Shikamaru asked, a look of concern for his friend overcoming his normally passive expression.  
Naruto hesitated. He had seen it, but he wasn't sure what it was, too focussed on those red eyes to notice anything else. It was still too dark to see a clear outline of whatever it was.  
"I'm not sure. It was too dark to make anything out. All I saw was it's… eyes…" Naruto trailed off, rubbing at his own eyes to try clear some of the fogginess, the fact he'd been asleep not ten minutes ago catching back up to him with all that adrenalin out of his system.

The other cars around them emptied of their passengers from the howling, and seeing as the guys were out, the girls ran over to Kibas car and were huddled around there.  
"I don't mean to alarm you, Naruto, but it looks like whatever it was, it was trying to get into your car, what with the handle hanging off like that," Neji stated from next to Naruto, who all but jumped out of his skin and bumped his head against the car in shock.  
"Yeah, that crossed my mind too." Shikamaru shrugged, like it was obvious so therefore didn't need to say it.  
From Narutos view of the floor, he noticed some blood on the ground. "Seems Akamaru took a bite out of the thing anyway, Shika, you're standing in some blood." With that, Shikamaru faltered and hastily stepped back, scrapping his shoes as he went to get any blood off the soles. After receiving curious looks from both Neji and Naruto, Shika rolled his eyes, "If that thing comes back, it might be able to smell it's blood and… uh… come after me? Yeah, it sounds stupid, but either way, I'm getting new shoes. These weren't that expensive anyway."

Naruto chuckled humourlessly, it could be true after all, and after taking a few calming deep breaths, he shook his head and stood up, deciding to keep his mind busy with checking on everyone to see if they were all okay. Of course everyone seemed to talk at once, the question of 'what was it' being the main thing thrown at him.  
"Look guys, I don't know, okay? Whatever it was, it's gone now; I think Akamaru hurt it so it fled. I think it's best if we pack up our things and get to Uni as soon as possible." Rounds of "Rodger that," and "okay" were sounded from the group, and within half an hour they were back on the road, making a bee-line to Kohona University as fast as the speed limit allowed. Well, when there weren't any high way cops out at least.

They arrived at the village about just over an hour later instead of the two hours it took last year, and the group set about finding their rooms and taking their things up first and foremost.

"Hey, I'm with Shikamaru again this year." Kiba noted when he found his dorm door, his and Shikamaru's names both written on the door whiteboard. "Man, what a boring job that must be to go round writing everyone's names on the doors…" Kiba mused, noticing Naruto had stopped a couple doors down on the opposite side of the corridor. "What's up?" Kiba set his bags inside the door and walked over to Naruto.

"Oh, you're with the same guy as last year too. Hey, did we ever even see him?" Kiba scratched at his head, trying to recall Narutos roommates face.  
"Nah, he left a note last year saying he could be back at any time and he'd kill me if I touched anything in his room, he went on class trips a lot, or something to do with his lessons. I didn't even know what lessons he took, I never met the guy. Though remember when we did sneak into his room? There were a few things in there that looked personal, and even though we didn't touch anything, the next note I got said he knew we'd been in there." Naruto smirked at Kiba, remembering Kiba go on some mini freak out, before coming to the conclusion that his room was obviously wired up with cameras. How else could he have known?

"Haha yeah, anyway, I'm going to go find Shikamaru, he should be done helping the girls with their bags. How they roped him into it I don't know, but Ino and Sakura can get you to do anything… now that's scary, my friend." And with that, Kiba locked his door on his way passed, and decided to take the stairs rather than wait for the elevator, which was no doubt being used to haul Lees weights while he ran up the stairs with the rest. Sure enough, as if being summoned, the elevator doors opened to show a stack of bags. A few seconds later, Lee ran into sight, got on the elevator to press a button, and waved to Naruto as he made his way back down the stairs. Seems he'd pressed the floor above by accident. Naruto was glad he was stationed above Lee, he would not want to be living under all those weights.

Chuckling to himself, Naruto open his new dorm door and lugged his things inside, noticing it looked almost identical to the dorm he stayed in the previous year; small cupboard along the left wall, kitchen on the right. If you kept walking forwards you'd come into the living area, which double as a sort of cross roads as to the left was one bedroom, to the right, another, and also the bathroom. Naruto always picked the one closest to the bathroom as he often forgot a towel when showering, and it was easier to almost literally jump from the bathroom to his own room.

Setting his bags in his room, he went to check the information board on the second floor in the buildings main gathering area, there were four floors, only three having living quarters for students, there were two rooms on the second floor, but those were for the semi-permanent students who were training to be teachers and also gathered the roll of building prefect-types, they were basically in charge of the building.  
That floor also harboured the larger lounge, a few bookshelves with study books on, and several scattered tables and chairs, or that's what their last dorm building had held. This one, as Naruto took in, had four large plump looking couches placed in a square, a short table placed in the middle. One wall was completely made of windows over looking the cross roads to the other dorm buildings, the other two walls had notice boards on them, one on the left were student made notices, which would consist of party times and locations or day events, the one on the right were the important information like exam dates, term dates, and currently a list of rules for the building and what date the first Uni introduction day started depending on the students last name; students with A-M as their first letter of their last name had their introduction day in 2 days time in the morning, Naruto found his started in 3 days time, late afternoon.

So now he had 3 whole days to do… nothing. There weren't any preparations he could do, as that was what the introduction day was for, after that day you had another few days to gather supplies. Walking out to get some fresh air, he caught sight of his mangled car door and winced, remembering the sound that had woken him up, and a small part of him hoped it wasn't too badly injured. Those expressive eyes before it ran away flickered before Narutos own as some students walked passed him to get into the dorm building, and he couldn't help but watch their backs as the door slammed shut behind them, something felt odd within that group and it itched at Narutos mind as to why. The feeling of familiarity became clear when he saw his own friends coming out the neighbouring dorm building, and he walked over wondering if he'd known any of those students and not realised it.

"Hey Kiba, Shika, my intro day is in 3 days, so yours will be in 2 days Kiba, they've split it into A-M and N-Z this year, seems simpler."  
Kiba scoffed, "Anything is better than last years fiasco. I'm just glad both my first initials fall into A-M."  
Shikamaru eye rolled as he remembered Kibas stupidity at not reading the list correctly last year.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving. Think we need to pay a visit to Ichiraku's for some much missed ramen!" as if on queue, Naruto's stomach growled as if proving a point.  
"Sounds good to me, I'll go round the others up." Kiba turned and headed back into the dorm to tell the girls, Shikamaru joined Naruto back to their dorm building to get things like jackets and cash. The elevator ride up was quiet, Shika seemed to be thinking about something, and Naruto was just too hungry now they were off to Ichiraku's he was hoping from foot to foot, and as soon as the doors opened, he all but ran to his door. Failing several times to get the key in the lock, he finally did and was confused when it wouldn't turn. He tried to open it, and found the door to be unlocked. Strange. He'd locked the door when he'd left… Shikamaru walked up beside him, and he shh'd him before he could speak, Shikamaru understood and kept silent as he followed Naruto into his room. Nothing seemed out the ordinary, so Shikamaru stayed in the living room area while Naruto check his bags, when he gave the all clear, it was then Naruto had noticed the other bedroom door had a 'Do not disturb' sign hanging on the handle. Of course, students were arriving now, so of course it was only logical his room mate had too. Though it was a little strange. They'd shared the same dorm room last year too, but he'd never bumped into the guy. And now only a door separated them. Something like anticipation bubbled in Naruto and he found himself walking over to the door and knocking on it before he knew what he was doing. It took him another minute to realise he'd not gotten a reply.  
"Um, sorry, I know you have the sign up n all, but we never got to meet last year, and was wondering if you wanted to come grab a bite to eat with me and my friends so we can get to know each other a little better."

No reply. "Well, if you want it could just be us two, I understand meeting all my friends and going for food would be a little weird to start with, but they are nice people, I'm sure they'd like you."

Still, no reply. This irritated Naruto, and he found, again, he was acting before thinking and opening the door, it got about a centimetre open before Shikamaru grabbed his arm. "What do you think you're doing, the guy clearly doesn't want to get to know you or us Naruto, lets just go, the others will be wondering where we are."  
"Yeah, you're right." Naruto said, a little rejected, but soon shone a bright smile at Shikamaru as he let go of the door and sing-songed "Ichiraku, Ichiraku, got the best ramen at Ichiraku~"

As the door leading to the corridor slammed behind them, the bedroom door Naruto had left open silently clicked shut.

**A/N:** Oh man, about time, ne? so super long chapter in the hopes you can forgive me! I can only apologise. I had honestly planned for this to be done before I went to Sunnycon at the end of March, but I didn't get finished in time, and then after that, I was all excited about going to Kitacon on the 13th april, so no writing got done there, and I had such a great time at Kitacon that I had some serious post-con depression up until a few days ago when I found out a lot of my new friends were off to London MCM this month too :D so now I'm super excited and have thrown that excitement energy into writing! Although between now and MCM, I have a total of 5 days off, spaced out otherwise I'd end up working 10 days in a row. I've done 9 in a row before, it's not fun. All 9-6 shifts too… anyway. Onto something about this story…

I'd originally planned for them to start off in Uni, but some how got into this end-of-summer-holidays thing n nearly 3 whole chapters later, they're finally there. Sorry if it got boring. I go into too much back story. I know. I bored myself when having to read through it a second time. So I wouldn't encourage you to read this again. Well, the past 3 chapters… :/ maybe read the prologue, but ack. Huzzar! Uni! Woooooo! :D  
(Also, I know… Naruto seems to forget quite easily his encounters… I don't know how to explain that… repressing memories? Not that they're very traumatic, but who knows why the brain retains them in the first place? … in some cases that's kind of obvious, but now I'm going off topic… again… also, I know I get a bit repetitive with certain phrases, I try not to! But damn, it gets a bit boring having to re-read what you've written 5 or 6 times to check xD haha)


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